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Team Penske
Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American Stock car racing team that competes in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series, In the Monster Energy Cup Series, the team fields the #2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion full-time for Brad Keselowski, and the #22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion full-time for Joey Logano. In the Xfinity Series, the team fields the #12 Ford Mustang part-time for Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Sam Hornish, Jr., and the #22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang full-time for Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Sam Hornish, Jr., and Austin Cindric. NASCAR Penske Racing debuted in 1972 at Riverside International Raceway with Mark Donohue driving a factory-sponsored red-white-blue American Motors Matador. It was dubbed the "flying brick" by many noting its squarish aerodynamics. The car finished 39th after rear end problems. The team ran part-time for a few years, fielding cars for several drivers including Donohue, Dave Marcis, Donnie Allison, and Bobby Allison. The team went full time with Bobby Allison in 1976 with a new, more aerodynamic fastback coupe, finishing 4th in the points. In 1980, the team fielded two races for Rusty Wallace, finishing 2nd in his first race. The team didn't run for eleven years, returning in 1991 with Wallace at the wheel again. Early in 2008, Roger Penske and Penske Racing won 2008 Daytona 500, first to get a restrictor plate win and a 1-2 finish. Car #2 history The #2 team hasn't seen many changes since its debut in the 1991 Daytona 500, where it finished 27th after a crash late in the race. 1989 Winston Cup Champion Rusty Wallace drove the car from 1991-2005, with some form of Miller Beer as primary sponsor of the #2. Wallace took over the car in 1991 when his Blue Max Racing team suspended operations. The team performed impressively in its first go, winning twice and finishing 10th in points. 1992 was just decent for Wallace, with him winning once and finishing 13th in points. That's when things turned around for the Wallace and Penske, winning 25 races over the next 4 years, despite never winning the championship. The team switched from Pontiac Grand Prixs to Ford Thunderbirds in 1994. The season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the entire 1996 season saw a small change when the popular Miller Genuine Draft paint scheme was replaced with a red, blue and yellow splashed scheme that advertised the Miller brand. After winning 5 races that season, Wallace donned the blue and white colors of Miller Lite in 1997. After winning one race a piece over the next 3 years, Wallace put together 4 wins in 2000, and won 9 Bud Pole Awards, the highest total of his career. 2002 was a disappointment however, as he failed to win a race, marking the first year since 1985 that he did not visit Victory Lane. After that year, the team switched manufacturers from Ford to Dodge. In 2004, Wallace announced the 2005 season would be his last in NASCAR Nextel Cup, citing his son's racing career and wanting to concentrate on his Busch Series for the departure. Rusty would finish the 2005 season in 8th place. In 2005, Penske announced that 2004 Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch would drive the car in 2006, following a long dispute Roush Fenway Racing. Busch only won once, it being at Bristol, and finished 16th in the final standings. Busch won six additional races between 2007 and 2010 and qualified for the Chase three times with a best final standings position of 4th. For 2011, the #2 and #22 teams swapped positions. Brad Keselowski, who drove the #12 car, was transferred over to the #2 car, while Busch moved to the #22 car. Nationwide Series crew chief Paul Wolfe replaced Guy as crew chief. Keselowski won three times, qualified for the chase, and finished 5th in points. For 2012, Keselowski and Wolfe returned, with the team winning five times and winning the series championship, the first for Team Penske in NASCAR and for Keselowski. Car #12 history The first #12 team for Penske was not always owned by the team. Originally the car was owned by businessman Michael Kranefuss. The team debuted in 1994 at Michigan as the #07 Ford driven by Robby Gordon. The car started and finished 38th after Gordon crashed on lap 70. After another start with Geoff Brabham at the Brickyard 400, the team went full time in 1995 with John Andretti, a second-year driver. The car became #37 and was sponsored by Kmart and Little Caesars. Andretti won the pole at the Southern 500 and finished 18th in the points. The team struggled in 1996. Before the season ended, Kranefuss decided change was needed, and replaced Andretti with the relatively unknown Jeremy Mayfield. The team improved to be 13th in the points in 1997, but it was obvious the team wouldn't succeed if it only fielded one team. In 1998, Kranefuss announced his team would merge with Penske Racing, and would also change to the #12 with Mobil Oil sponsoring the car. The move turned out to be a success, and Mayfield became the next big star. He won the pole at Texas, and at one point in the season, found himself in the points lead. At the Pocono 500 in June, he won his first Winston Cup series race. Mayfield's breakout year in Winston Cup ended with a 7th place finish in the points. Mayfield struggled in 1999, as he did not win and dropped 4 spots in the points. In 2000, he won the Pocono 500 and California 500. Midway through the season, Kranefuss sold his share of the team to Penske. Mayfield then suffered a concussion while practicing for the Brickyard 400. He missed two races recuperating from his injury and finished 24th in points. In 2001, Mayfield posted seven top-10 finishes, but was fired following the race at Kansas. Rusty Wallace's little brother Mike took over, and came close to winning at Phoenix before settling for second place. Surprisingly, Penske announced the #12 team would close after the season, and the owner's point would be transferred to his new team. The #12 team originally began running in the ARCA Re/Max Series in 2000 as the #27 Ford sponsored by Alltel and driven by Ryan Newman. Later in the year, the team made its Winston Cup debut with Newman at Phoenix, finishing 41st due to engine failure. In 2001, now driving the #02 Ford, Newman split time between ARCA, the NASCAR Busch Series, and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. He drove in 15 Busch races and won at Michigan. In the Cup Series, he participated in 7 events, and almost won The Winston Open before his engine expired in the closing laps. He put together two top-five finishes, which included a second place finish at Darlington, and a pole in his abbreviated schedule. Newman made the jump to Cup full time in 2002 in the #12 Alltel Ford, competing in a strong battle against Jimmie Johnson for NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors. Newman won The Winston, and the fall event at New Hampshire, as well as six poles. Although he didn't win as many races as Johnson and finished behind him in the points, he was still able to win NASCAR Rookie of the Year. After the switch to Dodge in 2003, he won 8 races, 11 poles, and finished 6th in points. In 2004, Newman won twice, earned 9 pole positions, and finished seventh in points. Newman finished 2005 with 8 pole positions, but only one win. He qualified for the Chase for the Cup for a second year in a row and ended up sixth in the final standings. He failed to win a win race and missed the Chase in both 2006 and 2007. However he found himself back in the winners circle early in 2008, taking victory in the 50th running of the Daytona 500 to open the season and to claim Penske's first Daytona 500 win. Despite winning the Daytona 500, the team struggled throughout the season, with Newman announcing that he would leave for Stewart Haas Racing at the end of the season. The #12 lost its sponsorship in 2009 when Verizon Wireless and Vodafone Vodafone] jointly purchased Alltel, with Verizon moving its sponsorship to the Nationwide Series. David Stremme was hired to drive the car in 2009 but had lackluster performance and was released later in the season. Brad Keselowski was then hired to drive the car, acquiring full-time sponsorship from Dodge and AAA. For 2011, Keselowski moved to the #2 car and the #12 team was shut down. The #12 returned in 2012 with Sam Hornish Jr. driving at Kansas Speedway with SKF SKF] sponsorship. Hornish and SKF returned in 2013 at Kansas and the fall Talladega Superspeedway races with Hornish crashing at Kansas and qualifying being rained out at Talladega. For 2014, Hornish left for Joe Gibbs Racing with Ryan Blaney and Juan Pablo Montoya driving the #12 team in two races apeice with SKF returning to sponsor three races. Car #22 history The #22 car made its debut at Team Penske for the 2011 season. Kurt Busch drove the car with Shell and Pennzoil sponsorship and Steve Addington serving as crew chief. Busch won twice and finished 11th in final standings. For 2012, Busch left for Phoenix Racing and was replaced by A.J. Allmendinger, who came over from Richard Petty Motorsports. Addington left for Stewart Haas Racing and was replaced by Todd Gordon. However, Allmendinger failed a drug test before the 2012 Coke Zero 400, and was immediately released and replaced by Sam Hornish, Jr. For 2012, Joey Logano was named as the full-time driver and will continue to drive the #22 through the 2015 season. Car #77 history The #77 car began running in 2004 after Penske merged with Jasper Motorsports. Brendan Gaughan was hired as the driver, with Kodak sponsoring. Gaughan had four top-ten finishes and finished 28th in points in his rookie year. He was immediately replaced by Travis Kvapil, who had two top-tens but finished 33rd in points. The #77 team shut down for the next two years due to a lack of sponsorship. In 2007, Sam Hornish, Jr. began driving the #06 in Cup, and after qualifying for two races, it was announced that he would drive the #77 full-time in 2008 with Mobil 1 sponsoring. The #77 swapped points with the #2 for the 2009 season. Bill Davis Racing sold their #22 owner points to Penske with the #77 picking up the #22's points and the #2 picking up the #77's points. For 2011, Mobil 1 left for Stewart Haas Racing resulting in the team shutting down. Hornish was moved to the Nationwide Series and the #77 operations were merged into the #2 car. Nationwide Series Penske Racing made their Busch Series debut in 2005, in the #39 Alltel/Mobil 1 Dodge driven by Ryan Newman. He ran only 9 of 25 races, but won 6 times. In 2006, Newman and Kurt Busch shared the ride. Busch won twice and Newman's best finish was 2nd. Hornish began racing the #39 in the last two races of the year, crashing out of both races. In 2007, the team began running the #12 with Sam Hornish Jr., Kurt Busch, and Ryan Newman splitting driving duties.Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch had a best finish of third. The team will return on limited basis again with Sam Hornish Jr. driving most of the races. In 2009, the team will run the #12 with rookie and 2008 ARCA champion Justin Allgaier and Verizon Wireless as the sponsor. For 2010, Penske will run two full-time teams, with Allgaier in the #12 Verizon Dodge and Keselowski driving the #22 with sponsorship from Discount Tire and Ruby Tuesday. Keselowski won the drivers championship in the #22 for the 2010 season with it being Penske's first ever NASCAR championship. In 2011, Keselowski continued to run the #22 full-time. However, Verizon exited NASCAR, leaving the #12 without a sponsor. Allgaier left for Turner Scott Motorsports and was replaced by Sam Hornish, Jr. bringing enough sponsorship from Alliance Truck Parts to run a part-time schedule. That August, Keselowski broke his leg in crash while testing at Road Atlanta. Keselowski was replaced by Hornish, Kurt Busch, and Jacques Villeneuve for the races he missed. That year the #22 claimed five wins with four coming from Keselowski and Busch winning at Road America. Hornish won his first race in the Nationwide Series behind the wheel of the #12. In 2012, Keselowski began splitting the #22 ride with Parker Kligerman, Jacques Villeneuve, and Ryan Blaney. Hornish returned to the #12 car, this time being able to run the full schedule. In 2013, Keselowski and Blaney returned to the #22 while Kligerman and Villeneuve left the #22. Joey Logano and A.J. Allmendinger joined Keselowski and Blaney to share driving duties of the #22. Hornish returned for another full season. The #22 won the owners championship with twelve victories spread over the four drivers. Hornish finished 2nd in the points championship. Penske also ran the #48 team in three late season races, with Logano, Blaney, and Keselowski each driving the car once. Keselowski won behind the wheel of the #48 at Homestead. For 2014, Penske will narrow its Nationwide roster down to one car. Hornish was released and went to Joe Gibbs Racing while most of his sponsors moved over to the #2 Cup team. Keselwowski, Logano, and Blaney will return to drive the #22 car. External links *Official Website Category:NASCAR teams